Love Will Keep Us Together (1975)

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Download MP3s from Amazon.com:

• The Captain and Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together (MP3)
• Neil Sedaka - Love Will Keep Us Together (MP3)

By: The Captain & Tennille, a husband and wife duo which consists of "The Captain" (Daryl Frank Dragon, born August 27, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) and "Tennille" (Toni Tennille, born Cathryn Antoinette Tennille, May 8, 1940 in Montgomery, Alabama).

Daryl Dragon, the son of conductor Carmen Dragon, had studied classical piano for ten years. While playing keyboard for the San Francisco run of the musical "Mother Earth" (co-written by Toni Tennille) Dragon was impressed with Tennille's writing and singing.

Dragon persuaded Tenille to join him with the Beach Boys as pianist on their next tour, making her the first and only "Beach Girl." Dragon was nicknamed "Captain Keyboard" by Mike Love, because he always wore a naval captain's cap on stage, so when he and Toni teamed up, they naturally became the Captain and Tennille.

Toni and Daryl were unable to land a recording contract, so with $500 of their own money, they recorded and released their own music on the Butterscotch Castle label. After "The Way I Want to Touch You" became a regional hit, the duo was signed to A&M Records.

In 1975, Toni and Daryl were sitting in an office at A&M Records, trying to come up with one more song to complete their first LP. Kip Cohen, head of the company’s A&R department, played them a cut from Neil Sedaka’s recent album, Sedaka's Back. The couple immediately knew it was right for them. "The minute I heard ("Love Will Keep Us Together",)" Toni remembers, "I knew we would do a number on it."

"Love Will Keep Us Together" won the 1975 Grammy award for Record of the Year.

Chart position: #1 (US).

It was #1 in the US for 4 weeks in June and July 1975. It was preceded at #1 by "Sister Golden Hair" (America) and succeeded by "Listen to What the Man Said" (Paul McCartney and Wings).

They also recorded "Love Will Keep Us Together" in Spanish, as "Por Amor Viviremos". It charted on August 16, 1975, while the version was on the charts -- the only time when two versions of a #1 single were on the Billboard Hot 100 in different languages by the same artist.

Written by: Neil Sedaka (born March 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York) and Howard Greenfield (born March 15, 1936, died March 4, 1986.)

Sedaka and Greenfield also wrote "Where The Boys Are", "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen", "Is This the Way to Amarillo" (which was a #1 hit for Tony Christie when reissued in 2005), "Stupid Cupid", "Breaking Up is Hard to Do", "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", "Calender Girl" and many more.

In 1952, 16 year old Greenfield and 13 year old Sedaka both lived in the same apartment building in Brooklyn. They didn't know of each other until Greenfield's mother had a chance meeting with the young Sedaka, suggesting to the young pianist that "You should meet my son; he writes great lyrics." The rest is history.

Originally by: Neil Sedaka.

He decided against releasing it as a single. He was living in London in 1975 when someone sent him the Captain & Tennille version. "I fell down. I called the kids in. I said, 'Do you wanna hear probably the most perfect pop record?' It was an incredible record. I made the grave mistake of not putting it out myself after 'Laughter in the Rain'. I chose 'The Immigrant', which made Top 20, but it was not 'Love Will Keep Us Together'."

The Captain & Tennille, however, acknowledged Sedaka's 1970s comeback by singing the phrase "Sedaka is back" in the song's fadeout.

Download MP3s from Amazon.com:

• The Captain and Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together (MP3)
• Neil Sedaka - Love Will Keep Us Together (MP3)

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